Guards Blocked Exit in Mexico City Disco Fire

M E X I C O C I T Y, Oct. 22

By Julie Watson

With flames and smoke filling a glitzy Mexico
City nightclub, terrified patrons fled for the sole exit — only to
find the club’s guards barring the way to some, demanding they first pay their
bills, survivors said.

The blaze killed 20 people, and injured two
dozen more.

The Lobohombo club was still packed at 5 a.m. when the blaze
started Friday. “Please! It’s burning! Open the door!” Sara
Falcon said she and others pleaded to the guards who stopped them
asking for tickets proving they’d paid.

“Everyone was shouting,” she told TV Azteca news, wiping away
tears. “Many people were on fire, yelling and throwing themselves
on the floor. Others were yelling, ‘Open the door because people
are burning!’”

Witnesses said patrons panicked when smoke began filling the
disco, and began scrambling to escape out the club’s only exit. The
building had no emergency exits, authorities said. It took 90
minutes to put out the blaze.

The Lobohombo with its mirrored facade, was one of the best
known nightclubs in North America’s largest city. Gloria Estefan
held a party there in August and salsa superstar Willie Colon had
performed there.

Short Circuit to Blame?

Hours after the tragedy, hundreds milled outside the charred
building, its mirrors shattered and blackened with smoke. Its
trademark, a sign featuring the face of a cartoon dog, was gone.

Police said a short circuit in the sound booth may have sparked
the blaze, but firefighters said witnesses reported hearing several
explosions. Officials put the death toll at 20.

Falcon’s aunt, Lorena Falcon Perez, said her 16-year-old
daughter was trapped in the flames, and later carried out of the
building as chunks of burning wood fell to the ground. She suffered
third-degree burns and was in critical condition at a local
hospital.

“When the doctors told me about my daughter, I fainted,”
Falcon Perez said. “It’s not right what those [owners of the
disco] did. A place that has events like this should at least be
safe.”

Authorities said the club had a long history of legal problems,
repeatedly clashing in court with the city.

Operating as a Restaurant

Lobohombo was operating with a permit for a restaurant rather
than a nightclub, authorities said. Its 4,700 square feet surpassed
the maximum size permitted by law. The club had a capacity for more
than 1,000 people, but at times held up to 3,000.

Authorities shut the club down 11 times for code violations but
the owners managed to negotiate its reopening each time, said
Dolores Padierna, a local neighborhood representative.

Earlier this year, officials ordered the club closed because it
lacked a permit for table dancing. The disco had featured female
dancers.

The owner secured a federal court injunction allowing it to stay
open, said local official Maria Inez Munoz.

An attorney for the club’s owner, Alejandro Iglesias Rebollo,
disputed the allegations that officials had tried to close down the
club.

City officials inspected and approved the club in June, attorney
Victor Trejo Sanchez told the Radio Red network.

The Iglesias family owns more than 80 nightclubs in the city.
Authorities said many have been cited for violations. A month ago,
authorities closed their bar La Luna after discovering drugs were
being sold there. A few months before that, police arrested a group
of women for dancing naked at one of their other bars, Hawaii.

According to the National Association of Discos and Bars, 15,000
establishments are in violation of the minimum operating norms in
Mexico. Violations range from closing long after the set hours of
operation to allowing prostitution and drugs.